FOR THE RECORD; Of Junior Copycats And an N.B.A. Brawl

By MAREK FUCHS

Published: November 28, 2004

WHEN Michael Jordan arrived on the National Basketball Association's grand stage, his every movement and habit trickled down to the high school and college level. Young players were suddenly wearing their shorts baggy, sticking their tongues out the sides of their mouths and trying their best to imitate his fadeaway jump-shot.

Then came Dennis Rodman with his tattoos, which soon became de rigueur at the lower levels of the game. The same goes for Allen Iverson's crossover dribble -- once distinct, but soon copycatted by uncounted numbers of younger players.

That is why high school and college coaches and administrators are worried right now. They are wondering how impressionable young players will respond to the fight that erupted last weekend at the end of an Indiana Pacers-Detroit Pistons game and degenerated into one of the ugliest and most violent scenes in the history of American professional sports.

As the season starts, sports educators at institutions large and small are bracing themselves, knowing their young charges have been so quickly imitative in the past.

''It is a deep concern,'' said Michael Gansell, the athletic director at Harrison. ''My first reaction was: how will this affect the high schools? This is my 38th year in education, and I've seen the impact of everyone from Bill Bradley to the current N.B.A. superstars.''

Mr. Gansell pointed out that ''the South Carolina-Clemson fight happened the next day,'' referring to a brawl at the end of that college football game. ''I'm not sure it would have if it weren't for the fight in the pros the previous night.''

Jeff Ruland, basketball coach at Iona, expressed concern too, saying, ''The link is real.'' As a former N.B.A. All-Star who played briefly in Detroit, Mr. Ruland has an interesting perspective on the matter. ''I coach a mid-major college,'' he said, ''but whenever I walk into people's homes when recruiting kids, not only are the kids already acting like they are pros, but the adults are acting like the kids are already pros, too.''

Mr. Ruland is not spelling out what would happen if any of his players tried to retaliate for having a cup of liquid thrown at him, in the manner of Ron Artest, the Pacer player at the center of the brawl. Rather, Mr. Ruland said, he makes discipline an essential part of being on the team.

He explained: ''For our last game, we left two guys home because they didn't go to class,'' he said. ''If they are not with the team because they didn't go to class, they can draw their own conclusions about what would happen if they hit a fan.''

Impulsive behavior in all its forms, he added, needs to be part of an ongoing discussion with certain athletes. ''I just got off the phone with another one of my players, and we were talking about control and limitations, not only on the court but off.''

As for the involvement of the fans in some fighting, Mr. Gansell said dealing with that presented a challenge as his basketball season began. Though his school's fans behave very well for the most part, he said, ''You unfortunately can't sit down with the fans to address these situations ahead of time, because you don't know who is going to come.''

And although he posts supervisors, they are paid only about $50 a game; there are limits to the appeal of the work, he acknowledged.

Still, Mr. Gansell said, setting a tone is the essential thing. He enforces old-fashioned rules -- which he admits makes him something of a ''fish out of water.'' Fans, for example, are not allowed to boo opposing players or wave anything while opposing players are taking foul shots.

He sees the recent N.B.A. fight as giving him ''some ammunition when I go into parent meetings with booster clubs'' -- lest such behavior gain some sort of dark appeal at the lower levels of the game. He says it may now be easier to engage parents' help and enlist their better judgment.

Finally, Mr. Gansell expressed the hope that the missed-game penalties meted out by N.B.A. made it clear that such behavior has its consequences. But he did assert that the penalties -- about 150 total games missed by nine players -- were not severe enough.

Greg Ransom, who directs Section 1 athletics for the New York State High School Athletic Association, said officials had already been working on increasing penalties for fighting before the Artest incident and had been on edge ever since. He expressed the hope that coaches would address the issue with all their players as the season began.

Mr. Ruland concluded, ''Hopefully, we've seen as ugly as it will get.''

Photo: Ron Artest of the Indiana Pacers after he went into the stands during a brawl at a game with the Detroit Pistons last weekend. (Photo by Duane Burleson/Associated Press)